HIV figures: A 'depressing read'

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Today is World Aids Day. According to the latest Health Protection Agency figures on HIV, one in four people in the UK who have HIV don't know it. Of those who are being diagnose, rates for gay and bisexual men have reached a record high in Britain.

Deputy chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust charity, Paul Ward, told Today presenter Sarah Montague "the figures make for a depressing read, thirty years into the epidemic. Too many people are not taking a test regularly and there are too few services where they can get tested." He explained that there is also a "stigma" still attached to the illness.

Dr Stephen Taylor, HIV Specialist at Heartlands Hospital explained: "HIV care is fantastic. We are good at getting people on to effective treatments. We are not good at diagnosing and educating the general public about how to get tested." He added, "We are trying to normalise HIV testing."

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